Rehabilitation International (RI Global), founded in 1922, is a global organization composed of persons with disabilities, service providers, government agencies, scholars, researchers, and advocates. It is dedicated to improving the quality of life for persons with disabilities. RI Global has multiple member organizations in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. RI Global also organizes forums as a platform for exchanging experiences and information.
Professor Christoph Gutenbrunner
RI President
- Life line and education
- 1954: born in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany)
- 1982: Medical Doctor (Marburg University) and license to practice medicine (“Approbation”)
- 1990: PhD in applied physiology and appointment as assistant professor (Marburg University)
- 1995: Specialist for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine and appointment as University Professor at Hannover Medical School
- Since 2007: Chair, Head of Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at Hannover Medical School including Coordination Centre of Rehabilitation Research of German Pension Insurance Brunswick-Hannover
- Visiting Professorships at University of Graz (Austria), University of Padjajaran, Medical Faculty Bandung (Indonesia) and Southern China University Guangzhou/Shenzhen (China)
- 2016: Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London)
- International leadership experience
- President (2019-2020) and Vice President (2018-2019; 2020-2022) of the Global Rehabilitation Alliance (GRA)
- President of the Baltic & North Sea Forum of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (2008-2013) and chairman of the advisory board (since 2013)
- Vice-president for Europe of the International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (2004-2008) and ISPRM-WHO-Liaison Officer/Chairman of the WHO Liaison Committee of the International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (2010-2018)
- Chairman of the Professional Practice Committee of the Section de la Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation de la Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (2003-2010)
- Board Member and Treasurer of the European Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (2008-2011) and chairman of the Public Health Committee (2010-2016)
- Member of the European Academy for Rehabilitation Medicine (since 2011) and chairman of the Foresight Committee (2013-2018)
- President of 9th ISPRM World Congress 2015, Berlin, Germany
- Scientific fields related to disability and rehabilitation
- Development, implementation and evaluation of innovative rehabilitation programs for return-to-work
- Studies on subjective and objective criteria for the need of rehabilitation in persons experiencing disability
- Conceptualizing rehabilitation in health systems and development and testing the International Classification of Service Organization in Rehabilitation (ICSO-R)
- Development of a methodology for National Disability, Health and Rehabilitation Plans and application in Egypt, Ukraine, Albania, People’s Democratic Republic of Korea, Albania, and Shenzhen (China)
- International Community survey on Spinal Cord Injury (related to the lived experience and societal integration of persons with SCI)
- Innovative teaching concepts for Disability and Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation in persons with COVID-19 ( Long-/Post-COVID)
- Collaborations and projects with national and international organizations
- World Health Organization ( contribution to the World Report on Disability (2011), the Global Disability Action Plan 2024-2021, the recommendation Rehabilitation in Health Systems (2017) and the Rehabilitation 2030 – a call for action)
- The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the Community Based Rehabilitation Network (CGN), the Christoffel Blind Mission (CBM), the Dementia Alliance International, Humanity & Inclusion (HI), Light for the World, Liliane Foundation, Motivation (UK) and a number of professional organizations
- In collaboration with HI, advocacy towards a WHA resolution on rehabilitation in contact with 15 national permanent missions in Geneva as well as the WHO regions Africa, South-east Asia, Europe and Latin Amerika
- The German Pension Insurance
- The German Workers Compensation Fund
- The German Members of Rehabilitation International: BAR and DVfR
- The Lower Saxony Ombudsman of Persons with Disabilities
- Publications
- Four scientific monographs and 81 book chapters
- 395 original scientific papers (200 of them listed in pubmed)
- Editor of 6 scientific books and one textbook for students
- Co-editor of two scientific journals and 8 consensus papers as well as three white books
